A Question Of Time: Michael Rickers Series
by Merchant Navy Cadet
Summary: An Autobot signal is discovered in the UK. Michael is sent to investigate and is attacked by the Con's. However an accident occurs and both Michael and Megatron are displaced to somewhere familiar yet totally different. Without an obvious means of getting back, both Michael and Megatron have to work together if they are to ever get back.
1. Chapter 1

Out of Time

It was a Saturday afternoon at the Autobot base and all was normal. It was quiet with no Decepticon activity. Though it wasn't quiet in the base itself with Miko and Bulkhead rocking to more Bulgarian metal rock, listening to a live stream from Varna. Raf and Jack were racing remote control cars with Arcee, Bumblebee and Elita watching over them, cheering them on. With all this noise Ratchet was getting progressively more annoyed with them. Why couldn't they make that racket somewhere else he thought. He was busy monitoring the globe for anything that would be of importance to the Autobots, whether it be a new energon signal or Decepticon movements. He was cycling through various frequencies and wavelengths in hope of finding anything, and finding something that would cause the others to go out into the field and stop the noise that was now really getting into his processor.

He was thinking whether he should voice his opinion to the others in regard to the sound levels but was stopped when he finally came across something. He put his full attention to it and tried to identify what the computer had picked up. When the result came through he was more than surprised to say the least.

"Optimus!" He called out to the Autobot leader.

The crimson red and cobalt blue Cybertronain emerged from the corridor from behind the screens of the main base computer. He came round the steps taking one large step down as he did and came to stand close behind the Autobot medic.

"I have pinpointed an Autobot signal. And it's coming from here on Earth" Ratchet said as he pointed at the screen.

Everyone overheard this and gathered around the computer. They all saw where the signal originating.

"That's got to be a crazy coincidence. Right?" Jack said after he quickly realized where it was.

Optimus looked at the screen and considered his options. It was a fairly populated area and they had people close by anyway so it could mean saving energon by not having to ground bridge. The more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed.

"Contacted Rear Admiral Baines" He ordered.

In a room thousands of miles away in an old house was an large collection of model submarines and warships from the present day to yesteryear. The bookcases was filled with books on nautical subjects and naval warfare tactics. Both old and new, made by Admirals, Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals and commanders from various nations. To accompany this vast study of naval warfare tactics was a complete list of every warship ever built in the form of a complete set of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1968 up to the latest edition of 2011-12. In a corner near the window was a globe on a stand, the globe's surface was made up of different colours of rock with the ocean being dark blue and the countries of the world given different colours and textures to distinguish between them.

In the middle of the study was a chess table and two men were sat facing each other. Playing with the white pieces was Rear Admiral Colin Baines. Michael Rickers was playing with the black pieces, all of them were made of a expensive wood to which the type had been long forgotten.

Baines took his left hand Bishop and took out Michael's right hand Knight.

"Unlike me, you only look ahead one shot. I however look ahead two battles" He said as he placed the black knight piece on the side of the table.

Michael was about to retort with a witty comeback but beaten to it by all the phones in the house starting to ring.

Baines got up from his seat and walked over to a oak table in the corner opposite the globe and picked up an out of place, modern portable phone and took the call.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Good evening admiral, this is Autobot Outpost Omega One calling" Optimus Prime's voice said through the ear piece.

"Anything thing I can help you with?"

"Yes. We have picked up a signal of Autobot origin located nearly ten miles to the north of your current location. Would you be able to go there and investigate for us?" Optimus asked.

"That's not a problem. Do you know what is giving off the signal?"

"No. All we know is, it is Autobot in origin"

"Okay, I'll call you when I have a better idea of what it is. If you wouldn't mind giving me the coordinates?" Baines spoke into the phone as he got a piece of paper and a pen which is always had ready next to the phone. He wrote down the position and hung up.

Michael swung around in his chair "Who was that?" He asked.

"Optimus. He says there is an Autobot signal not far from here. I think the coordinates he gave me indicated it's near Abercyon. He asked if I could go up there and find out what it is. You don't mind going, do you?"

"Why me?"

"Well I've had a few drinks tonight so I can't drive, plus I've got to be at HMS Cambria early tomorrow morning, doing an interview for the armed forces news. Don't know how long this might go on for tonight"

"Right, okay then. Can I have your keys please?" Michael asked.

"Oh like hell you are. You can take your bike" Baines told Michael. He would never let anyone drive his Jaguar XJ MKIII.

"Have you seen the rain outside? You want me to ride my motorcycle in that weather?"

"Well I'd suggest that you take your time and ride carefully"

Michael knew it pointless to continued to argue the point so he gave in. He climbed the spiral staircase to the first floor and went to the spare room he was using while he was staying at the admiral's house while on a weekend break back in his home town. He grab his biking gearing and got ready to go for a ride. He put on his black armoured jacket, armoured trousers and gloves. He got a bright red thirty litre rucksack, just in case he had to pick something up. Rather have a bag too big than too small. He got his mobile and synced it to the blue-tooth device he bought recently for his helmet. Once he was ready he went for the door.

"Right, I'm off now. Catch you later" He called to Baines who was in the study room. He heard a distant reply from the admiral and then stepped out into the rain. He climbed down the stepped and through the tiled front garden that was one stride long and he was on the street. He looked across the street, the other side didn't exist, it was a cliff top looking out across the Bristol channel. The house sat right on Penarth Head overlooking most of the city of Cardiff and the waters of the channel and the bay area. The street was wet with rainwater and the street was kept clean with the wind blowing off from the sea and down below the waves were crashing on the rocks and the air was filled with the smell of salt. Michael took a few strides up the uneven pavement and walked over to the garage that had been added to the house sometime after the original house was built. He heaved the roller door up and flicked the light on. Parked up was the black Jaguar XJ MKIII and next to it wa  
s his silver grey Suzuki Intruder 125. He really liked his motorbike. It was the only 125cc engine bike he could afford that was big enough for him to ride and still be comfortable.

He put his helmet on and made a call to the Autobot base using the blue tooth device for his helmet.

"Evening Ratchet, I trust all is well. So what are we dealing with then?" Michael said.

"Evening to you. We at this moment do not know what the signal is. It could be by an Autobot in distress or an artefact fitted with an Autobot locator beacon. We cannot speculate at this time, but I am working on it"

"Keep me posted"

Michael pushed the bike out of the garage, switched the light off then pulled the roller door back down and with his set of keys he locked it again. He straddled the bike and put the key in. He switched on the ignition and checked the gearbox was in neutral. He squeezed in the clutch with his left hand, applied the rear brake with his right foot and with his right thumb he pressed the electric start. The V twin engine turned over and fired up with a nice low throaty rumble. He gave it a few sharp throttle bursts to warm the engine up then let it idle for a moment as he heard the exhaust sound slightly tinny then became a more normal sound. When the tinny sound was gone he knew the engine was at it's optimum temperature. He pulled the face of his helmet down and flicked the visor up as he kicked the stand up and clicked down into first gear with his left foot and let the clutch out as he gave it some throttle and the bike rolled down the street.

The streets in the town of Penarth had a steep camber, made for the purpose of getting rid of the mess from horse and carriages when the town was first built over three hundred years ago. The town was built when the Port of Cardiff was the busiest port in the world and Penarth was then home to ship owners and captains, meaning all the houses were big compared to most of Cardiff. He drove west to the town centre and took the road that led towards Cardiff Bay. Michael got to the bridge that crossed the river Ely and onto Cogan Spur. When he was past the junction and on the bridge he spoke to Ratchet again.

"Hey you don't mind patching through a local radio station to me? This journey should be easily more than an hour"

Ratchet agreed and put through the station of Michael's choice.

"Delays to still be expected at Culverhouse Cross and at Cross Hands. Coriton interchange is moving now that broken down lorry has been cleared. Also listeners have called in to say the Bringlas tunnels are moving again both ways and the rest of the M4 is running smoothly. And that's the traffic. Weather is still looking the same as it was last time with heavy and persistent rain moving up the channel and working it's way up the valleys and towards the Midlands. Highs of ten and lows of seven with winds reaching fifteen miles per hour from the south west. If you spot anything and it's safe and legal to call, give us a ring on the usual number. And that's it for the next hour. Back to the show and I'm glad to say that after nearly twenty years they are back on the scene with a brand new album and currently on tour, this is Ultravox with there single 'Hello' from there new album. You're listening to Red Dragon FM"

As the music started Michael was crossing the mouth of the river Taff on the flyover bridge. Then it dived and went underground on the east bank going into the Butetown tunnels passing underneath the tourist part of the bay area. The tunnel came out the other end near the steel works and Michael took the Central Link road and went north towards the city centre. He turned east and followed Richmond road around the prison then took a left onto Newport road and travelled right into the heart of the city. He rode right past the southern end of Queen Street and up Dumfries Place and onto Stuttgart Striesser and followed across onto Boulevard-De-Nants. Taking a right onto North Road he had gone round two sides of the civic quarter and then followed the main road north. Passing through Maindy, then Cathays and over the Gabalfa flyover he followed North Road which widened and became the start of the A470 and followed it out north of the city passing the districts of Witchchurch and L  
landaf till he reached the Coriton interchange. He stuck to the A470 and the road turned into a duel carriageway and Michael gave everything the bike had and was cruising along at fifty miles per hour while being overtaken by much faster traffic.

Then he settled in for the ride keeping that speed while he got cold and wet in the wind and rain. The duel carriageway followed along the steep rock face on the east side of the Rhondda valley, passing below Castle Goch. Then he passed Taff's Well then more former industrial towns of Natgarw and Pontyprydd. He passed turn-offs for many other towns in the valley which was still dramatic and steep on both sides. After the road twisted and turned it's way north the duel carriageway came to an end with a roundabout, three exits, one to continue north on the A470 and two both for the town of Abercyon. Michael already had a rough idea where the signal was coming from and took the first exit to his left and travelled down the signal carriageway road that went to Abercyon via the industrial and former mining areas, passing through small villages.

"Okay Ratchet, give me some directions from this point on" Michael spoke in his helmet back to the base.

"Follow the road for the next few miles, there is an old coal mine coming on your left. Follow that road when you see it"

"Which mine? There was quite a number around here?"

"It's the… the… look I'm know I'm probably going to say it incorrectly so I'll just say it. The Aber-sea-on Drift Colliery" Ratchet said, stumbling over the name.

"Said wrong, but I know what you mean, it's Abercyon, 'Aber-cun-on'" Michael corrected enunciating clearly and slowly the second time as he kicked down a gear and gunned the engine.

After a few miles Michael saw a old muddy road that was unlit coming up, he knew the old mine was down there so he decelerated, using a bit too much on the rear brake the rear tyre locked up causing the back end to slide out, Michael corrected the slide with less brake and adjusted the braking as he slowed then carefully took the junction and then proceeded in second gear down the old access road.

He switched the headlight to main beam to see in the dark but all he got was the glare bouncing back on the large rain drops so either way Michael could see nothing. He kept his speed low as he could feel the surface was slippery from the torrential downpour.

After a good ten minutes of taking it carefully and not sliding out Michael had reached the old mine. There wasn't much there. In fact there wasn't anything there at all. All the buildings that had made up the surface part of the mine had been torn down after the mine along with many others were shut for good. The steel and anything else that could be sold off, was. The only thing left was tall steel wire net fence that surrounded the entrance to the mine. It looked like that of a cave that had been squared off my machinery. It didn't look natural in any shape or form.

Michael parked the motorcycle right next to the locked gate on the fence. He set the stand on the only firm bit of ground surrounded my the massive puddles of muddy water and rocked the bike to see if it would fall over.

"So where now do I go? Inside?" He asked.

"It would seem so. The signal strength isn't very strong so my best guess it is underground. So yes, you will need to proceed inside"

"Copy that"

Michael kept his helmet on, it's blue-tooth unit was the only hands free kit he had on him, plus he wanted some head protection if he was going in a mine. He was not oblivious to the fact what he was about to do was dangerous. He took his gloves off, they would be no use to him, they were very thick and would make using his fingers very difficult. He took his rucksack off and dumped his gloves into it and put the rucksack on again.

He looked at the fence. It was an old, bog standard wire fencing, seven feet high and no barbed wire on top. It was more a deterrent than anything else. Michael took a few steps back and made a run up, he jumped high and with the momentum of going up, his arms pulled himself up on top. He swung his body over and dropped down the other side. Easy.

He walked up the muddy slope to the entrance of the mine "Right, here we go"

"Be careful" Ratchet warned.

"No, I'll rush in and be stupid about it" Michael said sarcastically.

Michael took his rucksack off again and in one of the side pouches was small nine LED torch that was one inch long. He clicked the button on the end and shone the light in front of him as he entered the drift mine.

It was fairly easy going at first, the tunnel sloped down gently. Drift mines are drilled sideways into a mountain or valley side as opposed to straight down like shaft mines. Michael remembered from his history lessons that the first coal mines in the South Wales area were drift mines started by the very first pioneers of the industrial revolution right back in the early eighteenth century. So this meant two thing, first this was a very old mine and second, it was a big mine with lots of tunnels meaning he could be underground for quite awhile.

Luckily Ratchet was able to provide assistance. He had Michael's tracker showing and the location of the signal. He was able to tell Michael which way he was facing and in which direction he needed to go, with that Michael was able to go down the right tunnel.

The tunnels were small and cramped, cold and wet. Water was dripping off the ceiling and flowing along the tunnel floor.

"I think it's safe to say that all this torrential rain has washed out whatever is giving off that signal" Michael said.

He had to take his time, planning each and every step as though he was rock climbing. The water made everything slippery.

"How far now?" He asked.

"According to the information, you are right on top of it" Ratchet answered.

Michael shone his torch in all directions, all he saw was rock and seams of coal.

"There's nothing here" He said.

"Well clearly you didn't look hard enough. Look again" Ratchet gruffly told Michael. What he got back in return were a few well chosen curses in Welsh through the com link. Everyone who heard it, didn't need to speak the language to know what it meant. Jack and Raf were snickering from close by.

Michael did as asked and looked around again, only this time more slowly and carefully. Then he spotted it. It would have been unnoticeable if you weren't aware that something was there. In the side of the tunnel there was a pile of rock and coal that looked like it had burst out from the side and piled up on the floor. Michael inspected the pile of disturbed rock and assessed what would happen if he tried to move the pile, would more rock collapse into the tunnel? Was it safe? He wasn't an expert on the matter but he came to the conclusion that with the amount of water pouring through if more rock would have spilled in, then it would have by now.

Michael slowly removed the pile of rubble one piece at a time. Every time he removed a piece he would stop to hear if anything was moving, but he heard nothing other than himself breathing heavily and his heart beating in his ears, the sound of water dripping from all around and it running downhill in the mine, but no movement.

Eventually he had removed nearly all of the pile of rubble and he made a discovery.

"What is it?" Ratchet asked through the com link.

"It's an object, looks futuristic so I'm going to guess it's Cybertronian"

"What does it look like? Describe it"

"Hard to describe, best I can say is it looks like a hand held device. Small screen I suppose and buttons. Other than that I can be more accurate"

Optimus' voice came through the speakers in Michael's helmet "Bring the object to the surface and we will rendezvous with you"

"Will do"

Michael sort about getting the device in his backpack. He took the bag off his back and laid it on the floor making sure their was space to get the device in, then he went to pick the device up. It was fairly heavy and with the uneven floor surface and it being wet he slipped and dropped the device. What happened next was not to be expected as the device started to hum and a strip of light washed over Michael in exactly the same way Ratchet had scanned others with his own scanner. Michael was frozen, he dared not move.

The others heard the noise "Michael, what's going on?" Ratchet asked urgently.

"I dropped it and I think it scanned me, hold on"

Everyone at the base went silent and waited for Michael to speak again.

"Okay, nothing is happening. I doubt it's going to harm me, if it would have, it might have done so by now. Could be a security feature or something"

"Get it to the surface and take your time and be very careful" Ratchet instructed.

Michael moved the bag and the object to a more level flooring before he tried to put the device in the bag. Once he had it securely stowed he put the backpack on and took his time exiting the mine. It took awhile to retrace his steps, but he wanted to be sure he wouldn't get lost. He knew he could rely on Ratchet to guide him out, but he was fairly sure he could do it himself.

After fifteen minutes of slow progress, walking on wet cold rocky ground he finally saw the night sky again and the clouds had gone, though he could see another weather front was fast approaching.

He jogged over to the fence and like before he leaped at it and swung over and landed firm on his feet on the other side. He strolled over to his motorcycle and found the stand was still set on a dry bit of ground and hadn't become submerged in a massive puddle.

"Right, where should we meet?" Michael asked the Autobots.

"Take a right when you get to the end of the access road and I will give you directions as you go" Ratchet told him.

Michael confirmed his orders and set about getting the bike ready, with the device weighing heavy on his back he took his time straddling his bike and starting the engine. The engine had gone cold during his search underground so he waited till the tinny sound had stopped. When it had stopped his pulled the face down on his helmet and engaged first gear but then he heard something over the sound of the engine, it was another engine. A jet engine. He looked to the sky and saw a formation of aircraft heading in from the north. He was puzzled, anything from RAF St Athan never flew in the Rhodda valley and certainly not that low. Then he realized, it wasn't from RAF St Athan and his suspicions was confirmed when he could tell the majority of the formation was made up of purple, Decepticon flying troopers and it was the other ones which was what concerned Michael more. A black sports helicopter and a alien silver jet that was completely unmistakeable.

He opened the throttle all the way and let the clutch go, the back wheel span rapidly, kicking up mud as it fought for traction and the bike lurched forward and tore down the muddy access road, taking cover from the trees.

"Guys, the Con's have just appeared. I need backup right now!" Michael shouted over the sound of everything, the bike, the tyre roar and the Decepticons flying overhead.

Michael did his best to get as much speed as possible on the muddy access road, but he two things going against him. One, he was an inexperienced rider and two, physics. He hadn't been riding motorbikes for long so attempting at going sideways on bends was out of the question, plus if he did there would no traction to do so. But none of that mattered to him any more because he came round a bend too quickly and the rear wheel slid out and Michael lost it. He try to correct it with more throttle and leaning out of the slide to level the bike The bike fell to the right and he went down with it. It appeared that time slowed from his perspective as he fell but it was very quick. He hit the ground with his right knee and hip and slid behind the bike as it kept going. After two whole seconds he had gone from riding a motorbike to lying on his side in the mud.

He slowly got to his feet and shaky on them, his balance wasn't so good, he tried to stumble back around to his bike which was still in gear with the rear wheel spinning idly off the ground. The cap on top of the fuel tank had been ruptured and petrol was leaking profusely out of it.

Michael had made no distance when the Decpticons landed and surrounded him. He was thrown off his feet and fell on his back and the bag. The troopers were the first and charged up their blasters and aimed them squarely at Michael. When they had secured their target they all moved back and were replaced by the Airachnid and the warlord himself, Megatron.

Airachnid eyed up the motorbike that was running in idle on it's side in the mud. In her twisted mind she made the connection to Arcee and quickly took aim and blasted at the motorbike. The energon blast and the leaking petrol made one hell of a fireball. The explosion ripped the bike apart in all directions. Burning petrol was spattered all over the place but the fires were short lived due to saturated ground.

"You bitch! I still had finance outstanding on that" Michael spat as he got to one knee, only to fail as his knee gave way and he hit the mud again.

They looked down at the human lying in the mud and watched as the pain on coming off a motorbike then hit as Michael got a throbbing pain in his hip. He eventually got to his knees and one hand with the other grasping his hip.

"Get up" Megatron ordered.

Michael looked up, still with helmet on and stared at the Decepticon warlord.

"Shit" He said to himself.

"Take that off" Megatron told Michael.

Michael struggled to climb to his feet now his hip was hurting like hell. He flipped the face up and unclipped the chin strap and pulled the helmet off then threw it to one side.

"The artefact. Now"

"And what if I say no?" Michael asked defiantly. He sure as hell wasn't going to appear weak in front of them.

The answer he got was the sound of Megatron's blaster powering up and pointed straight at him.

Michael sighed a defeated sign and was about to take off his back pack off when twenty meters away a ground bridge portal opened up and the Autobots came running through. The area was filled with the sound of metal giants moving around and blasters powering up. Rival's aimed at each other. It was a stand off and Michael was caught up in the middle of it. Optimus was aiming at Megatron with Megatron aiming at Michael. Then no one moved. No no one dared move.

"Megatron, stand down" Optimus commanded.

"Highly unlikely Optimus. I have your pet at my mercy. You stand down, or watch him die"

Optimus' eyes tightened with anger.

"Optimus" Michael spoke "I'm not getting myself killed over whatever is on my back. Please stand down. There's always tomorrow"

Optimus knew Michael was talking sense. They could lose the artefact now, but they could fight for it again later. He disengaged his blasters and stood back, the other Autobots doing the same and the situation de-escalated from a potential bloodbath.

Michael pulled the straps off his shoulders and swung the bag around and got a good grip of it, held in front of him.

"I give you this, and we all walk away. Clear on that?" He told Megatron.

Michael swung the bag back and threw it underarm in front of him and as far from him as possible, but compared to the Cybertronains it wasn't a long throw.

The bag pirouetted through the air, it's trajectory forming an imaginary arch in the air. It went up and up, then stopped climbing and started to fall and it fell fast and it hit the ground with a dull thud between Megatron and Michael.

Megatron bent down to pick up the bag when it started to hum violently.

Then it just suddenly happened. Everyone all thought the same thing when they saw it. A big flash of light, blinding them all and a loud boom with a shock wave knocking every one, Bot and Con off their feet. It was explosion, pure and unmistakeable.

Every one slowly got to their feet again and they all saw the same thing. An empty space where both Megatron and Michael were. They were gone, both of them. Not a trace. Then both sides opened fire at each other and a battle erupted over the bag that was still there lying on the ground. The battle was short lived as one of the flying troopers snagged it and took off with it with the rest of the con's breaking off their battle and took to the skies, leaving the Autobots with nothing. No artefact and most importantly of all, no Michael. He was gone. They had put two and two together and a startling and horrifying fact came to them. Michael Rickers must be dead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Post It Notes!**

_Hello Michael Rickers fans! The worthy creator of this delicious tale is currently steaming his way around the world having all sorts of interesting adventures like any good British Sailor should. In his absence I humbly present the next installment in this story arc. _

Out of Time

Chapter 2

One by one the Autobots came through the ground bridge. It was evident on their faces that something went horribly wrong. They walked into the base slowly and quietly. Elita went over to one corner and slumped down onto the floor and sat in there by herself. Ratchet and the children watch them all, they knew something happened. But no one was saying anything.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked, impatient.

"Michael bought it" Bulkhead said simply.

"You mean..."

"One minute he was there, and then he wasn't. Not a trace. He just disappeared"

The three human children and the Autobot medic couldn't believe it. Eyes wide and nothing else. Their minds were struggling to come to terms with that fact.

"You must have made a mistake, he can't be-"

"We all saw it, Ratchet" Arcee cut in, aggressively "He was right next to the explosion. No way he could have survived that"

The base went quiet. All eyes and optics looked toward the corner and Elita who had huddled up in the corner with her knees to her head. She was silent, totally silent.

"So he really has… past away" Jack lamented breaking the silence. The two younger children couldn't hold it in any more eye their eyes watered and tears started to flow.

"That may not be the case, Jack" The Prime spoke "We have no evidence to prove such a claim. Although we could not find him, it does not mean he has passed. I believe the reason to his disappearance lies behind the device he uncovered in the mine. We need to recover that device from the Decepticons if we are to have any hope of discovering what it is and what it did to both Michael and Megatron. Though I do not believe Michael has perished, I fear that he may very well do so soon, because wherever he is, it is likely that so is Megatron"

Those who listened to what Optimus said could see that his theory was sound, but it still didn't make the emotional pain any better.

"I will make it clear for you all. Our beloved lord and master's spark has been extinguished, and this time it is for real" Starscream announced from the bridge of the Nemesis. All the officers and troops were assembled to hear it.

"What makes you so sure of that? Last time you announced his joining of the All-Spark, he came back" Airachnid said.

"Because last time we failed to inspect the wreckage of the space bridge. Did you find any trace of Meagtron after the explosion? No? Then I stand by what I said. Now as Megatron's second in command, I will once again take up the role of leading the Decepticon cause. And this time I will lead us to victory against the Autobots and we will conquer this planet"

One again just like all that time ago, there were murmurs and grumbles from everyone. They still didn't believe what Starscream said, however he was right about one thing. There was no sign of Megatron at all. Even after they had gone back and inspected the place to be sure. But they still didn't trust him after all he did after Megatron had seemingly returned from the dead after the failed attempt to bring through an army of Cybertron's dead.

The seeker marched off in a humph. He was irritated with everyone still judging him. He didn't see anyone else trying to make any bold moves so why should they mock him for it?

He stormed out of the bridge, but not before he signalled to Knockout that he should follow. The crimson sports car took up a position to the seekers side and followed him down the corridors of the warship.

"I take it you have the relic kept in a secure place, doctor?" Starscream said slowly and quietly.

"Not even Soundwave could get near it, my liege" The medic replied.

"Good. And have you any idea as to what it is and what it does?"

"Unfortunately I do not"

"Hmm, no matter. Well as long as they believe that their master is offline then that'll do for me. But we must make sure that no one is able to take the relic. The last thing we need is someone trying to find a way of bringing him back. Decepticon, or Autobot"

"Autobot? Why would they try to bring him back?"

"According to Airachnid, it would seem that Elita's human pet was also caught up in the explosion and both are missing. No doubt the Autobots will try to claim the relic in the hope of getting their pet back"

Michael was laid out on the ground, his biking gear was ripped and torn slightly but it was still intact. He was on his back with left arm above his head and his other was near to his side. He appeared to be unconscious but there was no sign as to why he should be in that state.

His eyes shot open and he took a sharp, deep intake of air as he sat up. He pushed himself up with his hands but he felt through his gloves that the ground wasn't wet and muddy. He looked at the ground and sure enough it was bone dry. This perplexed him, it had been raining heavily for days in a row. It shouldn't be dry.

He began to wonder if he had been out of it for a while, but he knew that wasn't the case. It would take the ground days to dry out, and he knew he hadn't been unconscious for that long.

He got to his feet and searched his surroundings, it wasn't much different at all, though there was something he noticed. His bike, or the burnt remains of it he painfully remembered weren't around, plus where were the Autobots? Why would they just leave him behind?

A man groaned behind Michael. He swung on the balls of his feet quickly and saw a man lying on the ground just like he was. Michael had never seen this man before and had no idea where he came from. He had a grey leather jacket, jeans and black shoes which had a half inch heel to them. Michael slowly approached the man, the ground cracked under his feet as he stepped.

"You okay?" Michael asked the man.

The unknown man looked at Michael and said nothing. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked again, this time he extended a hand out to help the man to his feet. Again the man said nothing in return, he just kept staring.

"Is there a problem?" Michael changed the question

The man pushed himself off the ground and stood up by himself and continued to stare straight at Michael. The man was shorter than he was. Michael took a guess that the man's height was around six foot. So whether this man stared at him because of familiarity or if it because he hadn't seen anyone as tall as Michael before was anyone's guess. Michael couldn't miss the scars on the man's face. He never remembered anyone with that level of scarring, so it probably wasn't familiarity.

Michael had enough of watching this man stare at him so he turned in the direction of the main road to Abercyon and started to walk away.

"How is this possible?" The man eventually said. Michael stopped dead in his tracks. He recognized the voice. It couldn't be? It was just not possible. It was his voice, not a similar one, it was his.

Michael slowly turned around and began to slowly walk back over to the man, his right hand forming a tight fist. His head turned to the left while his eyes still tracked the man.

"You know who I am?" Michael asked.

The man eyed the fist and placed one foot back, the weight on the balls of his feet, ready to fight.

"Yes I know who you are" The man said.

"And you are?" Michael asked carefully.

The man's' face tightened in anger. His fists tightened. His whole body tightened.

"I think you know who I am… Mr Rickers" The man said slowly.

"Megatron" Michael said and laughed "Well this is crazy. How does it feel?"

The human that was now Megatron loosened up and looked at his arms, torso and his legs "How does it feel to be a human?"

"No. How does it feel to be smaller?" Michael grinned slyly "So what do you have to say for yourself? All those lives you ended. An entire planet destroyed. All because of your mad quest for power. Well what do you have to say for yourself?"

"You expect me to answer to you. What are you going to do about i-"

Megatron was voice was cut off as Michael as quick as lightening reached out and grab Megatron's throat with his left hand and squeezed hard. Michael forced his head up and drove him backwards and kept on driving him till his back was slammed into the truck of a tree. Megatron desperately scratched away at Michael's arm but it was having no effect. The sleeve of Michael's jacket had amour in the lining.

"What's the matter Megatron? Cat got your tongue?" Michael looked into Megatron's eye and gave wide mad staring look. His eyes were cold and dead. Megatron was losing breath and gave up scratching the arms and tried at Michael's face.

Michael's right hand that had been left idle reared back then smashed into Megatron's torso then reared back and smashed again. The left hand kept a good grip around the neck as the third blow came. The knuckle protector on his glove cracked a rib just as any good knuckle duster would. Megatron howled in pain and Michael showed mercy by letting him fall to the ground, then took that mercy away again by kicking him hard in the side of the head, knocking a tooth loose.

Megatron laid still for two reasons. The first was he was experiencing such a high degree of pain in both the torso and the head, and secondly he was recoiling from the shock of being dealt with so quickly. No one in history had just knock him down so quickly before. Not even Optimus.

"Get up" Michael said, giving Megatron a sense of twisted deja vu.

Megatron looked up and saw Michael standing over him. He try to push himself up but struggled through the pain. Michael leaned down and grabbed at Megatron's jacket and hauled him to his feet and then pulled him so their faces were inches apart.

"Now you listen here. You do as I say, or I'll use you as a punch bag. You are no longer the metal giant I would have feared. Now if your smart enough, you'd know to fear me. Got that?" Michael threatened. Megatron had no idea how to respond other than a silent but rapid nodding of the head.

"Good. This is what will happen. I'm going to call the Autobots and they will detain you and your fate will be decided by Optimus Prime. Understand?" Michael asked, although they both knew it wasn't a question.

Michael shoved Megatron back onto the dusty floor and took a few steps away and got his mobile out of his right breast pocket, the Velcro ripping was very loud. He got the phone out of sleep mode and he saw straight away on the top left of the screen 'No service'. He started to wave his phone around trying to get a signal, but he found none.

"Weird" He said to himself. He pulled up the number for the Autobot base anyway and try to call believing there might be a fault with the screen. Straight away he got nothing, not even the female voice saying the number was unavailable. Absolutely nothing. It was like he never even made the call.

Michael stepped back towards Megatron who had slowly got back up to his feet.

"Right, slight change to the plan. My phone isn't getting a connection so we are going to find a phone box and then they'll come to detain you"

Megatron wasn't given the time to reply as Michael grabbed his shoulder and threw him in the direction of the main road. "Start walking"

"As you wish" Megatron slyly replied only then to be once again shoved hard to the ground and his back was stamped on.

"Watch your bloody tone! Otherwise I'll deck you!" Michael barked at the man under his large foot.

Megatron was forced to apologize and was roughly put back on his feet and quick marched along the road.

The two made it to the main road. It was deserted as Michael suspected it would be. Nobody drove down this road any more. Not since the bypass was built back in the sixties. Michael was about to walk down the road when he noticed a sign that wasn't there before. It was yellow with black letters.

NCB  
NATIONAL COAL BOARD  
ABERCYON DRIFT

Michael stared at it. It wasn't there before. Had he missed it on the way in? Maybe. Still it was there. Looked like it was placed there not long ago, not rusted or faded in any way. Michael chose to ignore it.

Michael told Megatron which way to walk and kept behind him all the way. That way he had a tactical advantage over Megatron.

As they walked down the quiet single carriageway road Michael occasionally got his mobile out but it was still showing 'No service'.

The two had walked miles till they reached the small town of Abercyon. The grid pattern of rows and rows of hundred and fifty year old terrace houses made it easy to find there way through. The town was stone dead quiet. Michael checked his mobile for the time. It displayed the time right in the centre of the screen 22:14, very late in evening for a valley town. Anyone who was out for the night were either in Pontypridd or Cardiff.

While in the town Michael decided to walk alongside Megatron, it would have looked strange to walk in single file. Michael was looking for a phone box. An old red one or one of those silver metal ones, he didn't care. As long as it took a fifty pence coin that would do. Or was it ten pence? It was a while since he last used one. It didn't matter that much, his pocket had loose change in there. Maybe two or three quids worth.

They walked along the same road that went straight into the town centre and something was telling Michael that not all was right. He couldn't put his finger on it. It was quiet, but that is normal for towns up in the valleys. But that wasn't it.

"Hang on a sec" Michael grabbed on Megatron's shoulder to stop him walking away "Something is not right"

"What?" Megatron asked.

"I don't know. Just something. Gut instinct"

"What has your digestive system got to do with-"

"Oh shut up will you" Michael silenced him and looked up and down the street. He was trying to find something that was causing this feeling of his. The houses looked old, some repainted and repaired, some left empty and unloved. The road surface, battered and potholed and left in a terrible state. No change there then. Then he looked at even the most mundane thing, street lights, road signs, walls, parked cars, road markings.

Then it clicked in his head. The parked cars, it was the cars that was the problem. He looked at them. There were many spaces to park. Was that it? He would expect the main road to be filled with no spaces left but that wasn't it. Not everybody drove a car. Besides maybe it was only because it was full during the day. So it wasn't that.

Michael studied the cars themselves. The car on his left was a Morris Marina. I bit old, faded yellow. Nothing strange. The car to his right, an Austin Princess. Again an oldish car, burgundy with a vinyl roof but it was pristine condition.

He looked across the street a white Mk1 Ford Fiesta and a black Nissan Bluebird and behind that an Austin Allegro. Michael remembered someone telling him before that Concord was built before the Allegro.  
He was about to dismiss his feeling as some form of paranoia but then it clicked one more time. He looked at every vehicle in general and he discovered what was wrong. They were all old. Nothing was from the nineties or from the twenty first century.

This really confused him. Why would everyone in this street have an old car? The government had a car scrappage scheme a few years ago where car owners would get two thousand pounds towards a new car for scrapping their old one. Surely one person here would have done so.

"We need to find a phone right now" Michael said before running down the street. Megatron had no idea what Michael was on about. He wasn't stupid enough to realize all was well so he ran after Michael.

They passed the shut front of shops and Michael looked for anywhere open. He saw light coming from a window. He jogged over to see it was an electronics store. The light was coming from a hideously old television set, again kept in pristine condition. What was on the TV confused Michael even more. It was former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and she was addressing the House of Commons. It looked like some archive footage but then the picture to a BBC news reporter and it too looked like it was from an archive footage.

"What the f..." Michael was too baffled to even swear.

"What?" Megatron asked, frustrated at not being told what was going on. He looked at the screen and didn't see the problem.

Then Michael suddenly ran off and bolted it down the street. Megatron again ran after him.

Michael had no idea what was going on. He wakes up and the ground is dry, the Autobots and the charred remains of his bike are gone. There was that sign. All the cars are old and that TV only displaying archive footage. This has to be one massive practical joke. But what about Megatron? He couldn't explain that away.

Hologram maybe? Michael didn't think so. Megatron would never pose as human, ever. But there he was, as human as Michael was.

Michael stopped when he saw some graffiti on the wall. It was scribbled on hastily in blue spray paint 'Maggie leave our mines alone!' it read. Michael stared at it long and hard. It was fresh paint, hours old.

Michael heard the faint sound of a stereo. He walked down the street and the sound became louder and clearer. He recognized the song. It was an Ultravox song. Then he heard the key note. Vienna. Michael couldn't help to lip sync with that most well known part. He followed the sound and came to realize it was coming from a news agent. It was open. He stepped inside. Behind the counter was an Indian man with a turban, half asleep.

"Evening" Michael greeted as he walked in. The track was coming to its end when Michael went over to the first thing he could reach. A pile of newspapers. He picked up a South Wales Echo and looked at the date. His mouth was wide open, eyes wide. His mind froze. He stared at the date for five whole seconds and then his mind kicked in.

He dropped the newspaper on the floor and ran back out to the street.

"Hey, hey. Put that back!" The shopkeeper shouted at him.

The date showed that the year was 1986.


	3. Chapter 3

Out of Time

Chapter 3

Optimus had gathered the Autobots together in the main control room, the human children stood right up against the railings to watch as the events unfolded in front of them, concern for their friend was at the top of the agenda for all of them.

"It is of vital importance that we recover the artefact as quickly as we can as every second that Michael is potentially stuck with Megatron, the closer he comes to perishing" Optimus said.

"Unfortunately we no way of getting a fix on the Decepticon warship" Ratchet explained "Though I am trying anything and everything I can do to locate it. I stumbled on it before, so it is possible I could do again"

"But how long would that take?" Elita demanded "Michael doesn't have the time to wait for you to stumble upon their location" She was seething at the doctor. She felt helpless and that made her mad. She needed to do something and hearing 'ifs' and 'maybes' was something she was not going to accept.

"Hang on, there is something else we can consider instead" Jack started "Why try going to them when they can come to you?"

His message didn't get through as the blank faces stated.

"I mean try getting on their warship using their own ground bridge"

"And how are we suppose to do that?" Arcee asked her partner.

"Give them a reason to use their ground bridge"

"Yeah, like blowing the scrap out of stuff" Miko added.

All optics and eyes looked up at the prime as he spoke "Although planning a direct assault on the Decepticons is very risky, we are very limited on our options. We must locate an area of Decepticon operations and strike at it as quickly as we can and rescue Michael as his time might be running out. So for that, everyone will be out on patrols searching for anything that will be useful to achieve our aims. Speed is of the element here" He spoke to the team "Ratchet, get to work on finding anything, no matter how insignificant and dispatch the team accordingly. Now I must go and inform the admiral what has happened" He informed the medic as he retired to one of the corridors leading away into the base.

Michael leaned on the bonnet of a parked car, another old one he noted. This one he didn't know what it was but it looked like a poorly made British Leyland car that could possibly be heavily damaged by his bare hands alone. He was struggling to breathe, the shock of it all had effected him badly. The mental equivalent of being hit really hard by a heavyweight boxer in the stomach.

"What is it?" The human form of Megatron asked as he leaned down to look at Michael's face.

"It's ninety-eighty-six" Michael said simply, his voice weak and crackled from the shock.

"What?" Megatron asked, not understanding the implications of what Michael said.

Michael pushed himself back up right and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly "I'm saying we are twenty-six years back in the past. Two-thousand and twelve minus one-thousand-nine-hundred and eighty-six equals twenty-six. Twenty-six years. We are back in a time where I wasn't even born yet. I'm born six years from now. Get it? We are back in time"

"How is that possible?"

Michael grabbed Megatron by the jacket lapels and swapped positions and slamming Megatron onto the car bonnet which bent and warped under the weight.

"More like how the hell do we get back? Tell me how?" Michael shouted, the desperation evident in his voice.

"I don't know. Clearly it had something to do with what you found in that mine. If you hadn't thrown it then this wouldn't have happened" Megatron spat.

Michael desperation for answers was replaced for utter contempt for the man he held down as he pulled the man up and head-butted him, letting him drop to the floor and began to kick him on the ground. Megatron found himself being kicked in the front of his head forcing the back of it to smash into the car, he was getting concussion but through the throbbing pain in his head he was able to grab Michael's boot and throw Michael off balance and send him tumbling to the ground.

Megatron wearily climbed back to his feet to receive a powerful blow to the head. His hands clasped over his head and staggered to one side and fell over. Michael came to make another possible fatal blow but Megatron used his feet to trip up Michael and climbed on top of Michael the two men wrestled each other on the uneven pavement. They grab, punched and scratched at each other till both were out of energy. Then laid on the pavement breathing hard, cuts and bruises all over each other.

Megatron was the first to get up. He looked at Michael on the floor looking back at him then looked up and down the street. It was all strange for him. He had no idea about anything of the world. He knew if he was to find a way of getting back, he would need Michael as much as he despised him. So he made a decision that he didn't like and put his hand out to Michael.

Michael looked at his hand and could see the conflict within Megatron and knew he had just taken a very hard decision. Michael grabbed his hand and Megatron pulled him up to his feet.

"So what do we do now?" Megatron asked.

"First tell me about that artefact. What do you know of it?"

"Nothing. I am not aware of anything that could have caused this"

"Okay" Michael said and thought about what they needed to do next. He stepped away from Megatron for a moment.

"Well you can answer this for me. Were the Decepticons on Earth during this point in time?"

"No"

"Well it's safe to say the same for the Autobots. They have never mentioned being here for that long"

"Why do you need to know that?"

Michael turned around to look at Megatron "Well whatever it was that send us here is most likely still there back in the future. And I believe however it got us here, it could take us back. But-"

"we do not have it" Megatron finished the sentence.

"Right. But somehow we need to let whoever has it know where and when we are. If it can send us back twenty-six years by accident, then I can imagine it can be made to send us forward in time if used properly"

"But how do we do that? We both just said that Decepticons and Autobots are not around"

Michael again turned around and walked a few steps away to think.

"How?" Megatron asked again.

"There is a way" Michael quietly said "though you are not going to like it"

"What is it?"

Michael didn't answer and started to walk away down the street. Megatron hurried after him asking again for an answer but Michael didn't reply and just carried on walking.

Megatron pulled at Michael's shoulder and spun him round "Look, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to force it out of you?"

"There is a way of contacting the Autobots"

"How?"

"Rear Admiral Baines"

Megatron remembered the name. He remembered that conversation he had with the Rear Admiral which ended with a cruise missile slamming into his warship "You know this Rear Admiral?"

"Sure I do. He's my godfather"

Megatron had no idea what that meant but he could guess it meant they were close. He decided not to ask for full details and got straight to the point "So how are you going to contact the Autobots then?"

"We pass on the message to him to hold, then twenty-six years later he passes the message onto the Autobots. Simple really"

"Why can't you just send a message to the Autobots directly for them to pick up later. You know where their base is" Megatron said.

Michael knew where that was headed and made a fist with his right "Don't even try that. I am never telling you where there base is. I'm not even going to tell you where it isn't"

Michael relaxed his hand seeing that his threat was understood and continued to walk down the street.

"So what do we do now?" Megatron asked again.

"We need to head to Cardiff. We aren't going to get anywhere up in the valley's. Besides I believe Baines was around in Cardiff at this time. If not then he is on deployment somewhere. But we have a more pressing issue"

"Which is?"

"We don't have the correct money. We can't take a train or a bus or buy food for that matter"

"What do you mean, correct money. I may not fully understand your planet but I do understand the economics of it. As far as I'm aware you should have the correct currency on you"

"Your right, however the money I have doesn't exist at the moment. All my notes are wrong. Every few years they slowly change notes when too many fakes are around. So the notes in my wallet are not valid. Basically we have no money, no paperwork of any kind and that means we can't do anything or go anywhere"

"So what's your plan?"

Michael stopped and surveyed the street looking at the cars. Till he saw something that he liked. He slipped between two cars and crossed the street and walked two car lengths along the other pavement and stopped to admire.

"By the red dragon, what are chances of finding one of these?" Michael asked to himself staring a metallic grey Ford Capri MKIII.

Megatron looked at the car in question and had no opinion of it. As far as he was concerned, it only reminded him of the Autobots. Only soft-sparked fools would choose a ground based vehicle mode.

"That's how we are getting to Cardiff. But first a basic rule to car theft. If you can, take the keys. You know why?"

Megatron shook his head.

"Well you don't want to smash the windows because well that kind of obvious. Hot wiring is just as stupid. It messes up the electrics and you might as well have a flashing neon sign to the police saying 'this is stolen'. So if you can, take the keys"

Michael walked around the Capri and looked through the windows for any clue about its owner. He saw papers strewn out on the back seat. And then on the second page the address was partially covered. But the house number was visible. 'That was silly' Michael thought to himself. He checked the nearest front door in the line of old terrace houses. The car was parked outside the house of the owner, that was if the street was right.

Michael searched the narrow street once more, up and down. Ten houses down there was a skip set between parked cars.

"Wait here" Michael instructed and quickly jogged the distance to the skip.

It was full of rubbish and rubble. Like someone had taken a home and everything in it, dismantle it and put it in the skip to be taken away.

Michael had a good idea of what he was looking for and there was plenty of it. He reached in and carefully pulled out a wire hanger. There was also wooden and plastic ones, but he wanted the metal one. He walked back over to the car and the house it was parked at as he unwound the twist below the hook then he straightened the whole thing out but left the hook on the end.

He raised it to show Megatron as he walked past him and towards the door.

"You see the thing about most people is that they normally do the same as everyone else, therefore they can be very predicable" Michael spoke as he knelt down so he was eye level with the letter box in the door. It was a cheap no thrills grey metal thing with two flaps one on the outside and one on the inside. Michael lifted the outside flap and stuck his fingers through to open the second flap and peered through the letter box into the hall of the house.

He looked to both sides and there it was to the left, the key rack where all the keys were hung in good order. He slid the wire through half way then carefully with the fingers still holding the flaps open, he made a bend in the wire so it would reach the key rack.

He inserted more wire till he could tap the keys with it. With slow and careful precision he got the hook into the key ring for the car keys and lifted it off the key rack. Then just as slowly and carefully he pulled the wire back out of the letterbox and when the key was about to pass through he gripped them with his fingers to ensure they didn't slip off the wire causing noise.

He showed the keys to Megatron with a sly grin "See what I mean?"

The two stepped over to the car, Michael stepped around the front to the over side, inserted the key into the door lock and unlocked the car.

"Get in" He said and the two got in the car with Michael throwing the wire onto the back seat. He had to adjust the seat back as whoever drove it normally were not his height. Megatron had to do the same.

Michael inserted the key into the ignition and fire up the engine which surprised him by being very quiet. He put his seatbelt on and put the gearbox into first. He looked to his left and saw that Megatron was just sat there.

"Put your seatbelt on"

Megatron made a face that said 'huh?'

Michael pulled at his to show it "Cluck click every trip"

Megatron reached back and then put his seatbelt on till it looked like how Michael had his.

"Right, let's go"

Michael released the hand brake and slowly eased the car out of the space and drove it down the road towards the main road out of the town and back to the A470.

Michael switch the radio on and there was a cassette tape already inserted and the player automatically started to play the tape.

"Wow, haven't seen cassettes in years" Michael couldn't help but say out loud. But then it started to play and the music didn't agree with Michael's taste.

"What's the problem?" Megatron asked, not understanding anything about the music.

"Brian Ferry. Can't stand him. Though I think we should take his advice"

"What advice?"

"That we should stick together"

Megatron was confused right up till he heard the line in the track. Michael laughed loud "We might be stuck together, but I'll be damned if we are going to remain all serious and uptight about it all the time. We're stuck together, we should at least be civil about it"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note****  
**

I'm back. Landed at Heathrow, London two weeks ago. Been around the world... again and crossed the equator 4 times. Visited California, , China, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Canary Islands, Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, France and Portugal. So my time at sea as a cadet is finally over and I've visited 27 countries, 5 continents, past the equator 6 times, crossed the date line twice and traveled a quarter million miles. A good start to a life at sea. But it's back at the academy for the final phase of becoming a officer. It's good to be back. Well that's enough from me, here is the next chapter.

Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 4

The next morning arrived in the Welsh capital, though the city that Michael once knew was totally different. It was run down, dilapidated and falling apart. They slipped into the city during the night and the two of them had reluctantly slept sat upright in the car they had stolen. The two were harshly woken by a van blasting its horn as it drove by.

Michael put the radio on a Pet Shop Boys track was playing. Another song that Michael knew. 'Not quite the west end of London' he thought to himself as he observed his surroundings through the windows. The street was busy and cramped. He could only stare at the mad fashion that was the eighties. All that time he was told by Baines that it wasn't like that, but it so was. He eyed some young woman across the street and he couldn't believe how big shoulder pads really were in this point in time.

Michael was the first to get out of the car and stretch his legs. He looked at his surroundings. The tight narrow street was hemmed in by Victorian black brick building latticed by black iron drain pipes. The buildings were tall and the only light came from the dull grey overcast sky. They had parked somewhere in the city centre, though where that was exactly Michael wasn't too sure. He had never seen this street before in his life. Megatron slowly climbed out of the car and looked around as well.

"So where are we exactly?" He asked.

"Dunno" Michael mumbled looking at the piles of rubbish in the street. The smell was tolerable.

"What do you mean 'dunno'?" Megatron asked with menace. His patience was wearing thin with Michaels constant vague answers.

"Use your head. I don't know what street this is. The city changes a lot in the next twenty-six years. After a massive regeneration project it changed a lot of the city centre. Street's came and went and most of the city centre completely changed and that change was still happening in the present day. So yeah, I don't know where we are exactly"

Megatron grunted to dismiss Michael's little lecture on the history of the place as he took a few unguided steps around the car.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Megatron finally asked a more constructive question.

"Now we go to a solicitors"

"A what?"

"We speak to people who do law, that's what?"

Megatron had to grunt at that "I don't know what you plan to do, but it better work" He spoke as though it was a threat.

Michael locked the car up and took a guess on which way to walk "Most of the time the plan you first come up with doesn't work. But you've got to give it a shot at least" Michael said over his shoulder as he walked away. Megatron followed behind down the street.

"So yes I mean we can offer that sort of service, but you need to understand that normally we hold things for periods of a few years at most. But your asking of us is to hold it into the twenty first century. And then we'd have to located this person after that" The solicitor said from across the coffee table in the minimalist furnished office where everything was pastel colours including his suit.

"Yes, I do understand that what we are asking is rather unusual. But would you be willing to do it?" Michael asked.

The solicitor pushed his large framed glasses up the ridge of his nose and reshuffled his light blue suit as he sat in his chair.

"I think we could come to an agreement. I'd have to ask the partners whether they'd agree or not, but I'm sure they will be persuaded, if you get my drift?"

Michael sat back comfortably in his own seat, knowing what had to be said next "So, put me and my friend out of our misery. How much will it cost?"

"Rough guess? I'd say you'd need to pay something in the ten thousand range"

Michael exhaled deeply as though he was deflating. Megatron simply had nothing to say to that. He understood monetary value enough to know that ten thousand was a hefty sum.

"Well is that all for today?" The solicitor asked.

"Well, it certainly gives us a lot to think about, but yes I believe so" Michael answered as he got up from his seat, Megatron following suit.

The solicitor showed them out of the office and into the cramped reception room.

"Can I ask just one question? You are serious about this? Not making some practicable joke after being to the cinema I hope?"

"Don't watch films" Michael answered "I'm more of a book person myself"

Megatron did as Michael had asked earlier and kept quiet the whole way through.

The duo shook hands with the solicitor and Michael explained they'd show again at a later date and then they left. They shuffled out of the door and into the now busy street. The trading hours were well under way and people were going back and fore, going about their business.

"So where are we going to get that money from?" Megatron asked.

Michael again started to walk away without saying anything. Megatron had now learnt to accept that he would have to follow him. Though why Michael kept walking away he never understood, was it a psychological thing? Something about being in control? He wasn't too sure. But either way he had to follow him, so he did.

"What do you know about me Megatron? I mean really? What have you been told?"

Megatron said nothing, he didn't have an answer.

"Before I met you and the Autobots, before I came a cadet. I did things, bad things, but for the right reasons. I think it's time for me to get reacquainted with my old life. That is where we will find the money"

"You know you do not talk much sense" Megatron quipped.

Back at the Autobot base the team had assembled and were ready to travel through the vortex. They had spent the last few hours trying to locate anything that would need Decepticon reinforcement and they found what they needed. It wasn't big but the energon mine they found was what they were looking for.

"Autobots" Optimus spoke "Remember that time is of the essence. As soon as they open their ground bridge, get through it as soon as possible and locate the artefact. Michael's life may depend on how fast we act. Autobots, roll out"

Ratchet fired up the ground bridge for the mine and one by one the Autobots transformed and drove through the swirling wall of light.

What met them on the other side was a dark tunnel of the mine, the walls lined with the glowing crystals of raw energon and no Decepticons in sight, but the team was smart enough to know they were there somewhere.

The Autobots made for cover as best as possible, hiding behind rocks or mining equipment. They held there positions long enough to be sure they weren't going to be fired upon after coming out from their positions.

Optimus gave a nod to the team and they came out of their places and with weapons primed and ready they proceeded their way down the tunnel.

They came to a fork, only two ways to go. It shouldn't matter too much so they collectively went to the left. They stuck together as splitting up could end up with only a few getting through the Decepticon ground bridge, if it would be opened at all that is.

With this thought in mind they needed to start making a mess and their opportunity to do so came in the form of Decepticon miners. The Autobots knew they couldn't fire on servant class Decepticons but where there was miners, there were soldiers. Optimus knew this more than anyone, but where did it say in Autobot protocols that they could fire near to servant class?

Optimus took the first shot and concentrated his fire on the mining equipment, the others took this as a cue and they opened fire on the first thing they saw that wasn't a miner.

Within moments there was blaster fire everywhere, the sound of blaster fire, things exploding and rock being blasted out of the rock face reverberated and the tunnel was lit up from the battle.

The Decpticons were quick to counter with the miners themselves returning fire and were quickly backed up by troopers. And with their arrival the Autobots took out the warrior class Decepticons with relative ease.

The Autobots dispatched wave after wave of troopers while slowly advancing on Decepticons positions. Things were getting destroyed and it was only a miracle that no processed energon was present otherwise the whole place would have gone up by now.

Then it happened, a lot faster than the Autobots had anticipated as the Decepticon ground bridge opened up with more troopers ready for the fight.

"Autobots, storm the bridge!" Optimus ordered his team and with all the blaster fire raining down on them they got out from their cover and transformed and gunned it for the ground bridge.

The troopers knew what they were trying to achieve and try to prevent by not only more blaster fire, but by physically putting themselves between the Autobots and their ground bridge. But the combined momentum of Optimus and Bulkhead driving full speed at them easily knocked them aside for the others to slip through behind.

The team emerged on the Nemesis and before the Decepticons could realise what had just occurred, the Autobots went out all guns blazing. They were outnumbered so taking as many out as possible in the initial moments would prove vital. After a small detachment of Decepticon troopers was eliminated the team did a quick check that they were all in one piece and then with haste made their way through the passageways looking for the labs. If the device was anywhere, it had to be there if the Decepticons wanted to study it, which as far the Autobots were concerned would certainly be doing.

Through their search through the warship they were slowed down by troopers but the highly trained warriors were able to get through the Decepticon lines but they were nonetheless being severely slowed down. The clock was ticking, they couldn't stay on the Nemesis forever and they knew this very well.

But after searching and battling past Decepticons they found the labs. The three larger Autobots held positions at the entrance while the two scouts searched for the device or any clue to the device's location. But they found nothing, not a shred of evidence of what it was or where it was. Arcee wouldn't accept this and searched again, even accessing the computer network to see if that could yield any answers, but there was nothing. Bumblebee once again did a complete once over of the lab but again yielded nothing.

"There's nothing here!" Arcee called back to the others holding the door.

"You must have missed it, check again" Elita shouted back, the anger was getting to her.

"It's not here" Arcee shouted back "We need to check elsewhere"

And just as she finished shouting, it seemed the entire Decepticon army was coming to storm the lab. As fierce as they could be, the Autobots knew this time they were ridiculously outnumbered and had to retreat.

They engaged the enemy and took out half a dozen troopers, given them the time they needed to escape from the lab and retreat to an exit. They transformed and drove fast through the corridors towards the aft of the vessel and towards the open deck. They all had been on the ship enough times to get a rough idea of how to find key parts of the ship and the open deck was one of them.

At every junction Decepticons bore down on them and mercilessly opened fire on them. The Autobots could only dodge the attacks because if the stopped to engage the enemy for even a moment they'd quickly be thwarted and offlined.

They continued to dodge attack after attack as they followed the route that would lead them out on the open deck.

But luck wasn't completely on their side as a Decepticon managed to get a shot on Elita, a stray blast hit her on the side. She cry out in pain but drove on through the pain. Her paint on her left side was scorched badly and was very noticeable. The warrior still had fight in her and carried on.

The Autobots emerged onto the open deck where more Decepticons gathered, knowing this was where the Autobots were going.

The Autobots were not going to go down easy as they transformed and blasted and cut down any and all Depcepticons that got in their way. They all followed Optimus' lead and made a run for the edge of the ship. Without spending too much time engaging the enemy they ran for the edge and jumped.

Through the noise of air rushing past them in free fall Optimus called the base "Ratchet, bridge us back now!" He ordered to the medic over the communication line.

A few moments later their ground bridge portal opened from directly below them and one by one they all fell through with the portal winking out of existence before any Decepticon could fly through it.

The children didn't need to be told the mission was a failure as with a slight sense of deja-vu they watched the Autobots slowly re-emerged from the ground bridge silent, no joy and excitement of a successful mission.

Elita presented her wound to the doctor who almost straight away dismissed as merely a cosmetic injury. Knowing that their comrade was going to be all right, the Autobots split up and separated into the corridors, they didn't want to talk, there was nothing to talk about. They had failed on their friend and that was that. It was a plan that was doomed to fail from the start.

The children watched as their guardians disappeared away. Jack and Miko hurried after Arcee and Bulkhead to see what they could do for their protectors. But Raf looked at Bumblebee but knew that there was someone else who needed some comfort right now.

He watched as Elita dropped onto a medical berth and slumped as she sat. She was depressed by the whole situation. Raf needed to do something, he glanced over to Bumblebee who saw what he was trying to say and got a quick nod in return to say he was fine about it.

Bumblebee knew he would be fine and if Raf could do anything to help a fellow Autobot, then he wasn't going to stop him.

Raf walked up to the medical berth and began to climb up the side. Elita had failed to notice the small boy struggling to climb the berth as she could only keep thinking about the danger her charge was in. But then she felt a small presence tugging at her side. She moved her arm out of the way and saw that Raf had attached himself to her side.

For a split second she was puzzled as to what he was doing until she figured it out. He was giving her a hug. A small smile of gratitude emerged as she reached out to him and gently picked him up and brought him closer to her spark and hugged him hard.

"Thank you" Was all she whispered to him.

Twenty six years earlier in time Michael was driving the Ford Capri up City Road in the Roath area of Cardiff. The place was still much the same as it was in the present day, only this time there were no Polish shops, only businesses set up by immigrant families from Pakistan.

"I wonder whether that shop I used to go to when I was younger is around" Michael thought out loud as he navigated the car through the chaos of moving traffic, parked cars and pedestrians. Definitely no change at all he thought to himself without speaking it.

"So what your saying is, we need weapons?" Megatron asked "Where do we get them?"

"Hey, don't worry. There is this place I know is around at this time. They should have what we need" Michael answered as he stopped the car for the lights.

"We're popping into a shop that sells guns. You see back in this point in time it was a lot easier to get your hands on a gun as supposed to the present day"

"And why is that?"

"In ten years from now in a small town in Scotland there will be a gun massacre that claims the lives of sixteen small children and a teacher in the local school. Many were so horrified by the event it paved the way for very tight restrictions on guns. There was even an armistice after that event. But in this period of time, those laws are not in place and we should be able to buy the fire power we need to carry out the plan I have"

The lights turned green and Michael carried on driving north on City Road.

"Why did it happen?" Megatron asked.

"The massacre? If I remember it correctly, something about a mad guy who got his hands on a gun and he must have justified it as some sort of revenge in his sick mind"

Megatron gave an expression of slight interest to the subject, not that he liked it or not, just some slight interest to it. He hadn't realized that humans could be so cruel to one another. And he came to realize that the death of younglings seemed to have an effect on humans. He noted both things to himself for his own sinister purposes.

Michael reached the end of the road and turned left onto Albany road heading back towards the city centre but immediately pulled up outside a shop front.

"This is it" Michael said as he parked the car and killed the engine. Megatron opened his door and climbed out the same time as Michael.

Michael locked the car as he stepped around the front of the car. He looked at the shop face. It was different. Different name, different shop face, different colours but yet it was still the same. He thought back to the last time he was here, robbing it and stealing a shotgun and shots for it then shooting it into the air in the centre of the city in order to grab the attention of the police.

He showed the way in with Megatron following close behind. Michael pushed the thick transparent door and stepped in. A bell announced their arrival. Michael looked around the shop. Even in the Eighties the shops' main business was camping and fishing equipment, only this time it didn't try to make it discreet that it also sold guns.

A thirty-something year old man appeared from a door from the rear of the shop "Morning to you. How can I help?" He said.

"Morning. My friend and I are interested in firearms. I was wondering what you have" Michael said.

The man rubbed his chin "You have a license?"

"Not at the moment. Though we will be acquiring some very soon. For the moment we are merely browsing what's on the market and of course, prices" Michael half-heartedly said smiling.

"Okay. So what are you wanting them for?"

"We're planning on starting a security company"

"Right, so you are looking for a whole range of weapons or what?"

"We are more particularly interested in the bigger stuff. Shotguns and rifles. You sell those?"

"Yes, anything you have in mind?"

"Just curious, you know anything about SA80's?"

The man stopped to think about it for a whole five seconds "No, never heard of it?"

Michael realized what he had just said so to cover his mistake he said "Oh, must have been something I misheard once. Anyway, got any SLR's?"

"Many" The man replied "We have a good range of shotguns as well of many makes, many styles for whatever you need it for. We also sell hand guns as well. I have a lot of 1911's and Browning's on discount if you are interested?"

"Well we won't be buying anything soon. But do you have some sort of price list. We're new to this whole thing and we haven't got much knowledge of the market. Anything you can do to help?"

"One minute" The man said as he walked into the back of the shop albeit rather slowly..

Michael could sense the man's suspicions. He knew he had made a mistake in asking about SA80's and it was a stupid one. He didn't care about the prices any more and knew he had to leave so he quickly turned around and dragged Megatron with him. Megatron could sense that something was wrong so he quickly followed Michael out of the shop.

The two quickly got to the car and got in. The man came back with a broacher and saw the two men had left watching as the Capri parked outside took off quickly. His suspicious now seemed confirmed, those two were trouble. How did that guy know about the SA80 project? He returned to the rear of the shop and picked up the telephone and quickly dialled a number.

"Morning. You'll never guess what just happened. Some guy came in and asked about SA80's"

"Really?" Spoke the voice from the other end.

"Asked it like it was common knowledge"

There was a moment of pause from the other end.

"A paddy?"

"Don't think so, the guy who spoke sounded local enough"

"There was another?"

"One other guy, didn't speak a word. He could have been Irish"

" Got any ID on them?"

"No, but my camera must have gotten a good look at them" The man said as he looked at the small TV screen displaying the shop floor in grainy black and white.

"Okay, I'll be on the next train to Cardiff. See you later"

The man on the other end of the line dropped the black phone handset back it it's cradle, the bell making a slight ring. The man pushed his chair back and stood up from his desk. He picked up his suit jacket that was laid on the back of the chair and put it on. He opened up his top drawer of his desk and retrieved his wallet and placed it in his pocket. Then without taking anything else he tucked his chair under his desk and left the office. He walked past row after row of desks. The place was filled with the ringing of phones, the clacking of typewriters and keyboards. Desks were filled with piles of papers and files and the air was clogged with cigarette smoke.

He left the office area and walked down a marble corridor that was full of people in military uniform from all branches of the armed forces walking up and down. Some were rushing around carrying anything from files to cups of coffee while the more senior members of the crowd were walking at a more relaxed pace.

The man reached a marble staircase and took it down one level to the ground level then in front of him, across the hall was the exit. He stepped across quickly and rushed through the doors and onto Whitehall. He took a left and walked south away from the Old War Office towards the Westminster tube station.

* * *

Depeche Mode - A Question Of Time (1986) watch?v=-5ojJP8q_8


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**

Wow, it's been a very busy week. Everyday, even on the weekend it's been hard graft in the classroom remembering radio frequencies. And it's paid off as I'm now licensed to be a radio officer on ANY vessel ANY size ANYwhere in the world. Not bad for 8 days of work.

Anyhow, next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

The two pulled up in the Capri, Michael parallel parking into a space and switched the engine off. Himself and the human that was now Megatron looked across the street.

"So why are we here?" Megatron finally asked, breaking the silence.

"See that building over there?" Michael said, nodding his head at a warehouse and the compound it was in.

"On first looks it looks like a brick merchant. The piles of bricks ready to send out to wherever, the sign on the gate all suggest that that's what it is. But it isn't"

"And you know this how? I assume you are going to tell me"

Michael tapped the side of his light twice lightly "Experience. I spent a few months a few years back doing a simple job of building a brick wall here and there down in Devon. Now I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that ain't a brick merchant, not really"

Megatron didn't look convinced. His face simply said 'explain'.

"First of all, why is the place so quiet? It's what... just gone eleven in the morning? Right now that place should be busy. It's around now or three in the afternoon these places get a lot of trading done. Not the first thing in the morning, not during lunch and certainly not the last thing at the end of the day. And secondly, why the hell is there a whole platoon of guys standing around in the yard for? Waiting for business?"

Megatron said nothing.

"That place is merely a front for a criminal operation"

"So how did you know it was here?"

"While growing up in this city, I listened to my godfather enough to know that this part of the city was less than snow white. The guy kept jabbering on about Grangetown this, Grangetown that. Muggings, burglaries, pub fights, that sort of thing. But when you get that stuff going on, you also get the more full time crooks taking control of all the mess and making a living off it"

"So going back to the original question. Why are we here?" Megatron asked, his demeanour still as dangerous as it had been.

"Look, we need money. They have money. Money that doesn't belong to them. So we're going to take it from them. Simple"

"Now?"

Michael tried to think of the best way to say, then resorted to simply shrugging a saying "... yeah"

Megatron nodded slightly, mostly confirming to himself then opened his door and climbed out of the car. Michael climbing out as well and locking the car up. The two strolled across the street, Megatron adjusting his leather jacket. The two looked casual, like they were simply two guys going to the brick merchant to make some simple enquires. The two walked through the open gate wide enough for lorries and walked into the compound. They immediately caught the attention of the men stood around the yard, some standing, some leaning or sitting next to radio playing music, Michael knew the track 'Stand and Deliver' by Adam and The Ants.

_'You really are going to be doing just that'_ Michael thought to himself.

They grew suspicious of Michael and Megatron's presence so Michael pointed out a pile of bricks four foot high to Megatron and loudly spoke to him "London red brick they are. Good quality, good load bearing stuff that is, but get the mortar wrong and the wall you build out of it is as good as finished"

Hearing them talking about bricks the men guessed they were no threat. They were two big guys, mostly likely builders. Nothing suspicious about that, so they ignored them and went back to waiting for something.

Michael saw this and whispered to Megatron "If your feeling a bit frustrated, now would be a good time to relieve some of the frustration and stress. In the warehouse somewhere there must be an office and if these guys are not so professional like a lot of criminals are then that is where they stash their cash"

Megatron simply nodded and the two split. Megatron went left and Michael went right. The man took notice of this and watched what they were doing. One however pushed himself off a pile and approached Michael.

"Can I help you, pal?" The man asked.

Michael walked up to the man quickly "Yeah, where's your money?"

"What?" The man asked confused. But instead of clarifying what he meant Michael roughly grabbed the man's shoulders and smashed his head into a pile of bricks.

Then it all kicked off as the other men jumped up to their feet and charged at both Michael and Megatron. Megatron swung his right fist into the face of the first one to approach him, knocking him out and then with great timing he transferred all that kinetic energy into his left and repeated what he did with his right. At the same time Michael made things easier for himself by picking up bricks and hurled them as if they were baseballs. Megatron seeing this took that idea and began to hit men with bricks.

Within seconds they had disposed of the platoon that were now lying wasted on the ground. Michael took the lead and ran for the door. The door itself was wooden, though the lock was brand new and made of a tough looking metal. Not matter how good the lock is it only as good as the door is. The lock would stay firm to the frame as long as possible, though it would most likely stay longer than the door would. Michael proved this by throwign his body weight at it and he smashed the wooden door off its hinges. What was inside in the warehouse was not more bricks but rather pallets full of alcohol and cigarettes. Michael took a guess that duty was not paid on any of it.

"This way" Michael pointed ahead of them. Megatron followed and the two cautiously made there was through the high stacks of illegal goods.

They came to the far end of the warehouse and Michael looked around the corner of the stack and looked left and right. The office was a small room that appeared to have been added to the warehouse well after the warehouse itself was built, looked like a portacabin had been dumped there on the opposite corner.

Michael nodded the way and Megatron silently followed. Michael kept himself low. But before he could think how exactly he was going to enter it, from between another set of stacks a big burly man with a shotgun ran right up to Michael fire close to him but hit a stack of beer cans. The shot was loud and the echo repeated again and again. Michael could hear the beer pouring out of the bullet holes. He slowly turned his head to the cans in question and saw how close he came to being shot in the head, then he slowly turned his head to the gun that fired the shot. It was a simple single barrel break action shotgun and from the look of terror on the man's face it was the first time he'd try to shoot someone, though not successfully.

Michael launched himself up and his left hand grabbed the underside of the gun close to the trigger guard as his other hand grabbed the end of the barrel and pivoting the gun between his hands smashed the butt of the gun into the man's chin. The man was thrown onto his back and hit the ground hard, the back of his skull cracking. Michael held the gun tight in his grip and without having to think about it began to search the man's pockets for ammunition. He found six cartridges.

He broke the gun and ejected the spent cartridge and inserted a fresh one and locked the gun again. By now Michael had just had enough, something broke in his mind. He held the gun firmly as he marched up to the office and kicked it's door down. And sat behind a desk was a small and old man who looked smug about something.

"Where's all your money" Michael said harshly pointing the gun at the old man.

"Your not going to shoot me boyo" The old man said.

Michael carefully lined up the shotgun, getting the man's skull in the sights "The money. Where is it?"

"Your not going to shoot an old man are ya?"

Michael lowered his gun and stepped around the desk and pressed the barrel against the man's right knee and pulled the trigger. The man howled in pain and cried.

"Where?" Michael asked again.

The man sobbed, his hands covering his entirely destroyed knee. Michael placed the gun on the desk and wrapped both his big hands around the old man's neck and gently squeezed.

"Where?"

"Floorboards!" The old man shouted.

Michael let the man go and padded around the desk and proceeded to stamp at the wooden floorboards. Took him ten seconds to find it. The plank gave way and fell apart and revealed stacks of money. From the looks of it there was a few hundred pounds in the pile. Michael and Megatron hastily grabbed the lot and quickly left the office, leaving the shotgun and the old man and his destroyed kneecap.

The two made a run for it, running between the stacks of cans, through the shattered wooden door and across the yard of bricks and men who had still yet get back up after being pummelled by the bricks. The two ran across the street not making any effort to conceal their swag and made for the Capri. Michael dumped his hand full of cash on the roof so he could unlock the car. When he got the door opened he chucked the money on the back seat and climbed in along with Megatron. He turned the engine over and slammed into first and took off it a trail of smoke, hitting the corner of the parked car in front as the car took off.

In a dark blue Bedford van parked around the street, two men were sat in the front and had just observed it all. The one in the passenger seat snapping away with his camera as it all unfolded.

The two watched the Ford Capri tear by as the one in the drivers seat picked up his hand held radio "You need to call the detective inspector on this one" He spoke into the radio "Two guys just walked in a trashed the place and took off with a heap of cash"

"You two get back to the nick, now"

"Yes sir"

The two put their stuff away into the glove box. The box was already full of stuff including two South Wales Police warrant cards.

At the Autobot base Rear Admiral Baines had been bridged after his business at the small naval base out of Cardiff. Optimus calmly told the admiral a detailed account of the events so far and had explained his theory to him.

Taking all this information in the ageing man stepped away from the platform edge and began to go over the details again in his mind.

"You said, you believe Michael is alive?" Baines asked.

"Yes, I do" Optimus answered.

"But you have no proof of this, you just believe he is alive?"

The Prime answered in the affirmative by nodding once.

"So if you have no proof, what makes you think he is alive?"

Optimus couldn't answer the question. He had no real idea as to why he believed it. It was just something in his mind that said so. However the admiral could see the doubt on the Prime's face.

"Are we talking about a missing in action?" Baines asked, using a term that was all to familiar with the Autobot warriors.

"No" Optimus answer, although it sounded something of a defensive statement.

"No, you mean not yet. You have no idea what has happened, you don't know if he's alive or where he could be and you have no way of retrieving the thing that did this"

"Uncle Sam is working on that!" Fowler called out as he stepped out of the lift "Just been in contact with Langley, they've dedicated a satellite to search for the Con's warship"

"That's all well and good, but how long are we going to keep this up?"

Again he got no answer to his question.

"Christ" He said as he turned away from the Prime as he combed his hair with his hand. He inhaled and held it then exhaled to calm himself down. He turned around again and looked at all the Autobots.

"So your going to put everything else on hold indefinitely while you look for him?" He asked the Autobots as a whole.

"We will search for as long as it takes if that is what is necessary to find him" Optimus answered, his words bringing a sense of pride and comradeship to his team.

Baines paused a beat "Optimus" he began to speak, the Autobots expecting him to thank them in advance, but they were wrong.

"Don't insult my intelligence" He spoke harshly "And don't give me a load of bullshit. We both know there is a time where you'll have to give up and move on. I'd know I would eventually. So don't stand there telling me you'd take as long as it takes to find answers while you have more pressing matters at hand"

"Admiral, you are mistaken when I-"

"I said don't insult my intelligence" Baines talked over causing Optimus to stop speaking.

"You are a good person Optimus, you all are. But please don't lie to me. You don't know what has happened. You don't even have any ideas and you have nothing to work with. So tell me, what are you going to do. I mean really, what can you do? From the looks of it nothing. So please don't say what don't really mean. Don't say you're going to do this and you're going to do that. You have no idea, you have no evidence and you have no real theory. You have nothing. So what are you going to do?" He finished speaking by shrugging his shoulders and raising his hand up sharply.

What he said hit the Autobots hard. It was a big reality check to them. What he was saying was true. Where could they start? What would there next move be? But there was no answer to those questions.

"One other thing I want to know. How did this happen? How did you let this happen?" The admiral pointed at the Prime aggressively.

That was when Bulkhead stepped into the Admiral's line of sight, Miko holding on while perched on his shoulder.

"You wouldn't understand, it was a tense combat situation. Michael could have been killed in the crossfire"

Baines shot a deadly glare at the wrecker "What did you say?" He said quickly, his right eye opened wide as if if were about to pop of its socket.

"I said, it was a tense combat situation. Michael could have been-"

"No, you said I wouldn't understand. As in wouldn't understand what it's like to be a combat situation. That is what you meant. Why?"

"No, what I mean is-"

"Those were your words, not mine. You said it and now it's out in the open. I know what your thinking. I'm just another one who's never been on the front line?"

Bulkhead didn't really understand what had the admiral in such a bad mood and thought best to not speak any more in case he further antagonized him.

However Miko wasn't going to put up with this, she was going to stick up for her closest friend "Hey, Bulk didn't do anything wrong. Why you acting all crazy?" She spoke definitely.

Baines took a quick deep breath and survey all those who were staring at him in disbelief. The Autobots, Fowler and the children couldn't understand what would suddenly make the admiral seem to lose it.

"You don't know, do you?" He asked them all. No one reacted.

"Optimus never told you about me? Did he?" No one answered, but they all slowly looked the the Autobot leader for answers. The prime remained quiet.

"Fowler, you remember the Falklands war?" Baines asked without looking at him.

"Yes, I remember watching it on the news every night" The agent answered.

"You want to know which ship I was on?"

Fowler said nothing.

"I was on the Sheffield"

Fowler didn't speak, but his eyes said it all. Baines saw this as he looked to see the agent's response.

"I take it you know what happened then? Most people only remember the Sir Galahad"

"What happened to you then?" Fowler asked cautiously.

"I got my battle scars"

Fowler was at first confused, but then he fully understood what he meant "How bad is it?"

Without saying anything, the admiral loosened his tie and slipped it off and over his head then laid it over the yellow railing. He worked the top button of his blue shirt off and proceeded to carefully and slowly undo all the buttons on his shirt.

Fowler took a few steps closer to see better, he had a very good idea what he was about to be shown. The Autobots to were curious and found themselves stepping closer to see. Optimus however knew what it was. He knew there was more to what the admiral revealed to him in that truck stop a few months back.

Baines undid the final button and tugged the shirt from beneath his trouser waistline and shrugged the right shoulder off. They were all shocked to see what he meant by battle scars. His skin was cracked, redden and looked like plastic that had melted and left to cool. He shrugged the left shoulder off and completely removed his shirt. His entire upper body was burnt badly. Not a single strand of hair grew.

He turned around to show his back, it was just as worse. The skin was rough and course.

"My legs too" Baines said "Mostly second degree burn, close to third degree in some parts" He turned around again "I was lucky. I got to keep both my arms and legs. Managed to get out before my head was engulfed in flames"

Nobody said anything. The admiral slowly put his shirt back on and did up the buttons.

"Unfortunately I can't say the same for my friends. For any of them" He said while looking directly at Bulkhead.

The wrecker didn't need to ask what that meant.

The admiral's breathing was slowly increasing, becoming sterner. He looked at them all, the Autobots, Fowler and the three children.

"So there you are, that's who I am. I'm the one that survived and had to pick up the pieces and attend memorial service after memorial service. There wasn't anything to bury for a funeral, for any of them"

Baines stopped to take a deep breath and continued "I spent four years with those eleven others, we worked together, we lived together and we did everything together. They all burnt alive till they they were dead and I saw it all right in front of me"

His left hands tightened and there was small tremors throughout his body. He was thinking about to much, something he had spent years trying not to. He took another deep breath and picked up his tie from the railing without putting it back on and walked away to the lift.

Fowler reached out for his shoulder. Baines stopped.

"It's tough when your left standing and they aren't. But that is the nature of war"

Baines shook off the hand from his shoulder and without looking at the agent spoke quietly to him "That was not war. It was simply madness"

The admiral walked off and stepped into the lift and rode it to the top of the mountain.


	6. Chapter 6

Baines stood at the edge of the cliff and stared out across the Nevada landscape. The scenery was beautiful. It was very different to what he was use to. He had seen many other places that's beauty was just as breathtaking, but they were all as good as each other in their own different ways. He stood their with his feet shoulders width apart. It was a habit of anyone who spend years of their life on a watch. Muscle memory, he didn't even know he standing in such a way.

He could hear an Autobot approaching from behind, it was difficult to not hear them walking around. He took a guess that their were two Autobots who would have come up to the cliff face to see how he was doing. By the way the footsteps sounded, he guessed it wasn't Optimus.

"Elita" He said without looking behind.

"You okay?" She asked as she stepped beside him and stared out at the landscape.

Baines said nothing. Elita took that as saying _'no and I don't want to talk about it right now'_. The two just stood there in silence. The silence was very loud, only thing to be heard was the wind picking up the dust and sand and blowing it away.

"I'd thought I'd come up and here and take in the sun for awhile. Weather back home has been dismal for sometime now" Baines finally spoke.

"And there was me thinking it was about something else"

Again the two stayed silent, watching the landscape slowly shift and change.

"It never gets easy does it?" Elita asked the admiral.

"What does?"

"Losing friends"

"Michael is more than a friend, I basically raised him"

"Not Michael. Comrades, losing them in battle"

Baines exhaled sharply, sounding something close to a titter "Well, it would seem we are both very experienced with that. Thing about you is you can understand why?"

Elita looked down to the admiral, the question of _'what?' _all over her face.

"I mean you know why were fighting in the first place. Fighting for freedom and fighting oppression. But me, it was confused and unclear. I look back on it now and I see it was a war that should not have happened. The war was set up by both governments. The military dictatorship in Argentina would have gain massive approval from the people if they captured the Falklands and in London, Thatcher could have turned around her failing government, which she did and then went on to stay as Prime Minister for another eight years"

"And that's left you bitter about it ever since?"

"That's right. Your friends died because they stood for what was right. My friends died so that someone could stay in power for longer"

"I am truly sorry"

"Don't apologize. I'm a bitter old man who now looks more behind than ahead in life. Though you should have seen me before"

"When?"

"When we got home. I was in a hospital for nearly a year getting treatment for my burns. Then they I had to see some quack who said I was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. It was kind of stating the obvious. Didn't go back to sea for another year"

"Because of that post... whatever it was called?"

"My original psychiatrist still believes I am not fit for duty. What does that tell you?"

Elita said nothing.

"I saw a few different quacks, after that and I was finally cleared for duty. By now two years had past and it was nineteen eighty four. I couldn't step aboard another surface ship again so I joined the sub service and didn't go aboard surface ships for another ten years"

Elita could sense the way he said ten years meant there was a reason "What happened ten years later?"

"The Persian Gulf, nineteen ninety four" Baines said as though it was title to a story.

Elita shook her slight slightly, she didn't understand.

"It was my third tour as commanding officer of my own submarine, HMS Splendid, a fine vessel. We were patrolling the gulf after the first gulf war, trying to maintain the piece and silently escorting the tankers coming out of Basra. One day we message from the admiralty, a frigate had been hit by a missile from Iraq and some of the crew had been killed, including the commanding officer. When I realized which ship it was I didn't want to believe it"

"Why?"

"Who do you think the captain was?"

Elita could tell that she already knew the answer, she though about it. What happened in nineteen ninety four. She remembered something about that year, but why. Then the answer suddenly in front of her. She didn't say but from the way she slowly turned her head back down to the admiral, Baines knew she knew.

"Captain Rickers was arguably one of the best captain's in the Royal Navy during that time. The shock of his death swept through the admiralty like wild fire. He was a real hot shot. He is still a legend today. Some still talk about him, he's that well remembered"

Baines sighed and stepped closer to the cliff edge and sat down, placing his tie on the rocky floor beside him. Elita decided to do the same.

"His wife took it hard, it was made harder because how do you explain it to a two year old who still doesn't understand the concept of life and death? When he was able to start speaking he would regularly ask when his father would return. It was about a few months down the line he realized his father was never returning"

Elita remembered back to how Michael had explained how he felt when it dawned on him that he was fatherless, she remembered how deeply upsetting it still was to him. Then she began to realized she was thinking of Michael in a past tense. _'He is not dead'_ she repeated to herself in her mind.

"Then a few years later I was again at sea, we came back to the UK and I was at Faslane when I heard the horrible news from Malta. I couldn't believe it. It sounded preposterous it was all true"

"The gunman" Elita said. Baines slowly nodded.

"Makes me feel sick to this day that someone could even try to do that"

"So what happened then?"

"Well by now I knew that Michael would have been an orphan. Had been for months. Months and I knew nothing about it. Immediately after hearing the news I went straight to London and I spoke with the then Director of Submarines and said I wanted a desk job or I would resign from the navy, which would mean losing my pension I had built up so far"

"So what did they do?"

"Well I got lucky, there was a Vice Admiral job going and the then DOS was going to be promoted anyway. He put in a request that I'd be the next DOS due to my circumstances and I that was no longer able to command a submarine. The whole thing was rushed forward and within a month of returning to the UK I was promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral and then when I was settled I went back to Cardiff and fulfilled my promise to Captain and Lieutenant Commander Rickers"

The two remained silent and went back to watching the landscape.

"I gave up the best years in my career for him. I gave it all up because I made a promised to his parents to look after him should the worst happen and the worst did happen"

He slumped forward, depressed.

Elita rested a hand on his back "I to made a promise to his parents to look after him. You shouldn't shoulder the burden by yourself"

Baines felt the weight of her metal hand and slowly looked up to her.

"He's not missing in action and he's certainly not dead. I refuse to accept that. We will find him. I don't how long it will be, but we will find him" She said with confidence.

The two went back to watching the landscape.

Michael unlocked a door and stepped through into a small, dark and dirty flat. He stepped through the doorway and stopped to take it all in, Megatron stepped in close behind.

"Well this is it" Michael said, flicking a light switch, but no lights came on. Michael searched for the problem and then discovered something he thought he'd never see. He stepped over towards it. It was a coin operated electric meter. Michael dug into his pocket and pulled out a fifty pence coin, it was dated 2002. He slotted into the meter and all the lights flicked on. The flat looked even worse than it did in the dark. Rising damp, peeling dark green wallpaper, a dirty dull red carpet and damp stains on the ceiling.

Michael took a look around while the human that was now Megatron could only stare at what he saw. He had no idea how to take it. This was all alien to him.

"Well it seems to have what we need" Michael called from elsewhere. Megatron said nothing.

Michael stepped back into the first room and looked at Megatron, he looked confused, as though he didn't know what to do.

"You okay?" Micheal asked.

Again Megatron said nothing. Michael stepped over and turned him around and walked him out of door and locked the flat up.

"Right, I'm hungry. We both need something to eat" Michael said and Megatron followed with no idea what else to do.

The two left the flat and stepped out into a tight terraced house street and headed for the main road. Michael was concerned about keeping things on a budget so he found the first Fish & Chip shop and went in. Michael bought two cod and chips for the both of them and walked down the street and slowly headed there way back to the flat.

They got back into the flat and Michael looked around the flat found and put two chairs by the small table, he also discovered a small radio in the kitchen part of the flat and for the sake of avoiding silence he switched it on and an earlier work by Ultravox all about the stranger within. Michael opened up the paper of his own food and began to eat. Megatron opened his own and looked at it. He watched Michael eating and found it a disgusting. How had he been reduced to being a human. It was now more than ever he wanted to be returned to how he originally was.

"Not hungry?" Michael asked.

"No" Megatron answered gruffly

"Fine, be like that then. Why should I care?"

Megatron said nothing, his face tightened in frustration. He watched how Michael was eating his food and then tried to mimic those actions. Megatron quickly picked it up and was starting to eat, not that he liked it. He did it because he realized he had to.

"So, we stole some money from those criminals. Now what are we going to do next?" Megatron asked.

"Right, now we hit the places that has larger amounts of money and then use that money to pay the law firm to fulfil our request. We right a date and time for the Autobots to pick up so we shouldn't have to wait too long here"

"Where do we strike?"

"Well, banks and jewellers are out of the question. By now they had suffered enough robberies in the sixties and seventies that they would have beefed up their security. Though at this point in time the emergence of the super market is happening and I do believe some were around in Cardiff in eighty-six. They tend to keep a large float. Plus petrol stations, pubs and other large retail places"

"How do you know all this?"

"Well I don't have a whiter than white history"

"I wonder how much of this you have let Optimus know about. What would he think if he discovered that he is harbouring a criminal like yourself"

"I'm not a criminal" Michael said coldly. "I did what I had to do to survive. Is that a crime?"

Megatron knew he was onto something there but decided not to press it for now and to put it away for a rainy day.

"I know what you are doing. Your trying to provoke me"

"Am I?"

"Because if you are, you won't like the result"

Megatron leaned back in his chair with a smug grin "Really now? Would I like to see the result?"

Michael pushed his meal to one side and leaned forward with his elbows on the table "I'm going to be honest with you. As you are well aware of my history, you'd know exactly what I'm capable of. Part of that was killing people for money. But doing that does somewhat change how you think about such things, and do you know what it does? It numbs the pain. It used to hurt me inside, but not any more. I've got so much blood on my hands I no longer know what it's like to not have it. Now when I do have to take a life it's like... I no longer seem to care, sometimes I get a satisfaction from it. Can you believe that? I gain some satisfaction from killing, that is what it does"

Megatron smug grin disappeared. Was he about to witness Michael lose self control?

"And all of this leads me onto the big question. Why are you still alive?"

Now Megatron was confused, though he did not make known to Michael.

"If I'm such a cold blooded person who doesn't seem to care any more about killing, then why you of all people stilling alive? Maybe being in the presence of the Autobots have somehow made me subconsciously change how I think of it. Maybe there moral code has rub off on me a bit. But they are not here. It's just you and me. So I also think, what were to happen if I were to kill you right here, right now? Does it alter the future or the past? Because the way I see it, it does not. I could kill you right now and go on by myself. I don't need you, but you need me. I could kill you know and do the whole universe a favour and do the one thing that Optimus could never do. Kill you"

Megatron had nothing to say to that. What Michael said made complete sense in his own mind. As he contemplated this Michael so casually went back to eating his food.

Elsewhere in the city the man from the Ministry of Defence stepped into the gun shop. The bell on the door noted his arrival.

"Good day to you" The shop keeper greeted as he stepped out from the back room "I take you got here okay?"

"A slight delay at Swindon, but that's British Rail for you" The man from the ministry said.

"I have the tape ready in the back" The shop keeper said.

"Well lets have at look at these guys"

The shop keeper led the man from the ministry around to the back and focused his attention to a small Japanese made television and played the tape. It showed most of the shop floor in black and white. The camera was placed close behind the cash register. The picture was grainy and silent. It wasn't a continual length of film but rather a set of photos that were taken every three seconds. The first picture showed the shop keeper in a blur as he was moving back towards the camera, heading for the back room the two were currently standing in.

The picture jumped, a shape of a car with a long sweeping bonnet appeared on the street directly outside.

The next picture showed the back of one figure that seemed to be leaning on the car and looking over the roof, the angle of the camera showed only a partial view as the top of the window cut off the persons head.

"Those are the guys" The shop keeper said.

The man from the ministry said nothing.

The next photo showed another figure join the first as the two were blurred heading for the door. Three seconds later they were in the shop and stood still on the floor, they looked like they were looking at what was on offer. The shop keeper paused the tape.

"The big guy is the one that did all the speaking, the other didn't make a sound" The shop keeper said.

Again the man from the ministry said nothing. He looked at the two men, neither face stood out in his memory. Looking at the angle from the camera and comparing to what he saw in the shop as he enter, he took a guess that the big guy was probably six foot seven, give or take an inch.

"What is that jacket he is wearing?" The man from the ministry asked.

"Not sure, looked real heavy duty though. Scuffed to I should add"

"What did he ask about?"

"He said something about starting a security company and wanted to get a feel for the market"

"He was doing market research?"

"Yes, though he said they were more interested in rifles and shotguns"

"Makes sense I suppose. So what about SA80?"

"He just suddenly asked it. He asked if I had any SA80's. Straight away there are two things going wrong. For one how the hell does he know of the SA80 project?"

"The other?"

"He asked it as a plural"

The man from the ministry said nothing.

"When ever someone comes in and asks about what I sell, they asked if I've got the Smith and Weston this, or the Colt that. Never as a plural. If I do sell that thing then surely I have more than just one on sale. Nobody asks if I have something with a plural, there is just no need"

"My god" The man from the ministry said under his breath.

"What?"

"The SA80 project was never just intended to be a new fancy bullpup battle rifle for the British forces but rather it is a family of weapons all based around the same basic design. The idea is to standardise all small arms therefore any solider can effectively use any of these new weapons with very little familiarisation training. Though exactly what these other designs will be are still on the drawing board"

"I know the battle rifle itself was giving to the army last year for trails, but I didn't know that"

"And you only mustered out a short time ago and even you didn't know that, so it begs the question. How does he know?"

The two looked at the grainy image of the two men stuck in freeze frame.

"Do you think he could be IRA?" The shop keeper asked.

"Did he sound like a paddy?"

"No"

"So what did he sound like?"

"His accent was fairly generic, but there was a strong hint of Cardiff in there. Maybe they are Soviet spies?"

"I seriously doubt that. Moscow wouldn't be scared of the SA80 project, they already out-gun us massively. No, whoever they are, they are something completely different. Can I have a copy of this tape?"

The shop keeper ejected the tape and handed the black cassette tape to the man from the ministry "That's your copy, the original is kept safe"

"Thank you very much. If they come back, you know how to reach me"

The man from the ministry shuffled the tape into his inside coat pocket and saw his own way out.

* * *

Ultravox - Stranger Within


End file.
